Re-mapping ecocriticism: new directions in literary and urban ecology

This review essay looks at two recent publications which represent a critical mass in the fields of literary and urban ecology, at once drawing on classical ecocritical notions of “space” and “place” as well as signaling new directions for future work. Their mutual emphasis on the interconnected nature of the place-world not only offers new ways of thinking about how places are connected to each other, but also how natural, cultural, social and scientific processes constantly interact to make and re-make the landscapes in which we live. Thereby, their focus on human habitats and built environments is a timely addition to a debate that is still very much focused on “natural” landscapes and helps to reflect on the way in which concepts like “nature”, “country”, or “wilderness” are not only culturally mediated, but also constructed with the contrasting image of the “city” in mind. Both books illustrate in a number of close readings how literary texts influence our spatial perceptions and mediate our experiences within an (urban) environment, showing how creative processes of the mind constantly interrelate with our (non-)human worlds